Chapter 8 A Strange Magic Circle, Yu Xing, Yun Dai is Behind You…

Chapter 8: The Odd Magical Array

"Yu Xing, Yun Dai, she’s right behind you…"

To her surprise, it was an apple. Yu Xing was taken aback. Meeting Grandma’s eager gaze, she asked, "Where did this apple come from?"

Grandma’s eyes crinkled into crescents as she chuckled, "I found it in the back kitchen of a restaurant. It’s still fresh! Go on, eat it—I scrubbed it clean."

The apple had been thoroughly washed, though a small piece was missing, as if a rotten spot had been cut out.

Yu Xing wasn’t bothered by the imperfect apple. Instead, she frowned. "You went out to work odd jobs again?"

Grandma’s face instantly fell, like a child caught red-handed. Her gaze flitted about as she stammered, "I… I was just bored at home. You weren’t around, and I wanted to chat with my old friends…"

By the end, her tone had grown rather impudent.

Yu Xing had the original host’s memories and knew exactly what was going on. Three months prior, Grandma had fallen ill, and her health had steadily declined since. The original host had forbidden her from taking on any more odd jobs. But Grandma, having worked hard all her life, couldn’t sit still and often secretly went out to work.

"Hmph!" Yu Xing crossed her arms, her face stern. "If you do something wrong, you must be punished."

Grandma’s expression changed, and she slumped in dejection.

Yu Xing walked to the kitchen and returned, holding a knife.

Under the room’s dim, yellow light, Yu Xing stood before Grandma, knife in hand. She snatched the apple from Grandma’s grasp and swiftly sliced it in two.

Juice splattered into the air, its sweet fragrance teasing the senses like a kitten’s playful paw.

Handing half the apple to Grandma, Yu Xing declared, "Your punishment? Eat half this apple."

Grandma’s anxious face immediately brightened. She instinctively started to refuse but relented under Yu Xing’s serious gaze.

Taking the half-apple, Grandma didn’t eat it, but instead watched Yu Xing eagerly.

The original host’s memories and Yu Xing’s emotions blended seamlessly. Yu Xing understood Grandma’s unspoken desire perfectly. She opened her mouth and took a large bite of the fruit.

*Crunch!*

The crisp sound echoed clearly in the small room.

"Mmm!" Yu Xing widened her eyes dramatically. "This is *too* delicious!"

Grandma’s anticipation was fully satisfied, her facial wrinkles smoothing out into a wide grin. Yu Xing took another bite and urged, "Eat, Grandma. I have good news to share."

After a moment’s hesitation, Grandma finally took a bite of the apple. Yu Xing sat at the dining table and announced, "Guess what? Today, the school offered me a guaranteed university admission spot. I won’t even need to take the entrance exams next year."

"Ah, really?!" For a moment, Grandma’s face went blank—then erupted into pure joy. But instead of laughing aloud, she clenched her aged hands into fists, looking up at her taller granddaughter with glistening eyes. "That’s wonderful, that’s wonderful… Our Xingxing is incredible, truly amazing…"

As she spoke, Yu Xing noticed something sparkling in Grandma’s eyes. Upon closer inspection, they were tears.

"Why isn’t your brother home yet?" Grandma murmured with a hint of regret. "If only he were here now."

Her voice grew quieter. "He must be working so hard out there…"

Grandma didn’t know her grandson was working in the sex trade—she only believed he had a tough job.

"You’ve worked hard too," Grandma said, raising a wrinkled, rough hand to touch Yu Xing’s cheek. "Grandma knows… these past two years haven’t been easy for you…"

A sudden pang of bitterness welled up in Yu Xing’s heart—an unfamiliar, uncomfortable feeling. She inhaled sharply and stepped back, dodging Grandma’s hand. "I’m going to study. You should rest early too, Grandma."

With that, she turned and entered her room, only to see bloodstains scattered everywhere. A shiver ran down her spine—she hadn’t cleaned up the original owner’s blood yet. Had Grandma seen it?

Probably not. If she had, she wouldn’t be so calm.

Yu Xing locked the door, planning to clean the bloodstains after Grandma fell asleep.

Sitting at the original owner’s old desk, Yu Xing propped her chin on her hand, pondering everything that had happened since she transmigrated. She opened her panel, where her first-tier Broomstick Star skill was stuck at 27/250.

Earlier that day, she had realized that "250" didn’t mean 250 different people, but 250 instances. Theoretically, she could attack the same person 250 times to level up the skill to Broomstick Star (Level 2).

But she felt this skill seemed pretty useless. The panel indicated she had successfully attacked 27 times, but barely anyone actually got unlucky from it. Only the first time, when Yang Ke fell after being attacked. After that, neither Yun Dai nor Gu Ya seemed affected.

Perhaps it was because it was a leveling skill, so it wasn’t very effective at Level 1.

Yu Xing was quite open-minded about it. Her life was already pretty great. Even after transmigrating, so many people still loved her. Even if her cheat skill was a bit useless, it didn’t matter.

Two hours later, when the house was completely silent, Yu Xing quietly brought a basin of water and a towel into the room and began cleaning the bloodstains.

Though there was a lot of blood, it was mostly smeared on the surface, making it relatively easy to clean. Just as she was nearly done, she found a notebook by the foot of the bed.

The notebook appeared thin, but when Yu Xing opened it, she realized that wasn’t always the case. It should have been much thicker, but many pages had been torn out.

Of the remaining pages, only two had writing. One page had five messy, scribbled words:

"What should I do?" Yu Xing softly read the words aloud. Why couldn’t she remember anything about this notebook?

The other page had a drawing—one Yu Xing recognized immediately. It was the same blood-painted sigil the original owner had drawn in the room.

The notebook’s version was clearer, with two tiny words written at the bottom corner.

Yu Xing squinted, leaning closer to the light to read them. The two words were, "Misfortune?"

What did that mean?

She took a photo of the pattern and uploaded it to the Transmigrator Trade Forum.

"Does anyone know what this is? Need answers ASAP."

[Image attached.]

Soon, responses flooded in.

[Jiahao of Spiritual Resurgence]: *Is this Cardcaptor Sakura?*

[ABO’s Only Big Sister]: *Couldn’t it be from Magic Knight Rayearth?*

[Cultivator A-Yuan in the Immortal Realm]: *Y’all just dated yourselves, lol.*

[Little Li in the Magical World]: *Looks a bit like a magic circle from my side. Pretty interesting. I’ll have to research its specific purpose and let you know once I figure it out.*

After this, Yu Xing suddenly felt very sleepy. She washed up and lay in bed, her thoughts growing hazy, ready to drift off to sleep at any moment.

Just before falling asleep, she opened her terminal and scrolled through her sparse contacts list until she found Gu Ya.

Looking at the name, Yu Xing couldn’t help but smile sweetly. Then she sent a message:

"Night, babe~"

…

Yu Xing slept soundly that night until the alarm rang and her grandmother knocked on the door, "Xingxing, time to get up."

"Oh." Yu Xing yawned in bed and staggered to her feet.

Pulling back the curtains, she saw the still gloomy and dark sky outside and thought to herself, *Ugh, this sucks—just like cramming for exams all over again.*

Before leaving, she didn’t remind her grandmother not to go out for odd jobs today. In her opinion, people should do whatever they want while alive. So what if her health wasn’t great? With how advanced technology was these days, once she figured out how to make money, her grandmother could do more than odd jobs—she could even sign up for UFC, no problem.

As for how to make money, Yu Xing already had a plan. Her boyfriend, Gu Ya, seemed loaded. And since Gu Ya loved her so much, he’d gladly bankroll her.

When the bus arrived, Yu Xing hopped on, light on her feet.

Immediately, she caught the familiar muttered words again.

"Sorry… sorry… sorry…"

Turning her head, *Speak of the devil—it’s the same driver.*

Today, the driver was in an even worse state. Not only was he muttering, but he was also crying. Yet, despite the dozens of passengers sitting or standing on the bus, not a single one seemed to notice. Everyone wore the same blank, mask-like expression.

Yu Xing silently moved to the back door. *I forgot to ask Gu Ya which grade and class he’s in yesterday. Whatever—I’ll just ask him at lunch today.*

"Mornin’~" Yu Xing greeted the robot Li Mao at the school gate.

Thanks to him yesterday, she’d avoided a lot of trouble.

"Good morning, Yu Xing," Li Mao turned and waved at her. "Are you planning to jump again today? If needed, I can wait below in advance."

"Probably not," Yu Xing replied, though she wasn’t entirely sure.

Then she noticed the students around her secretly watching her and whispering among themselves.

"That’s Yu Xing?"

"She doesn’t look special at all."

"She’s pretty pitiful."

"Pitiful? She already has a guaranteed admission spot…"

Before Yu Xing could make out what they were saying, someone suddenly exclaimed, "It’s Yun Dai! Yun Dai’s here!"

*Yun Dai?* Yu Xing started to turn but caught herself. The transmigrators yesterday were right—since she couldn’t accept Yun Dai, she shouldn’t give her any false hope.

So Yu Xing lowered her head, quickened her pace, and prepared to leave quickly.

Suddenly, someone tugged her sleeve. A boy pointed behind her and said, "Yu Xing, Yun Dai’s over there."

Yu Xing: "…"

*No need to tell me, I know…*

But now that she’d been called out, Yu Xing couldn’t just pretend not to see in front of everyone. She forced herself to turn stiffly—sure enough, Yun Dai was not far behind.

Today, Yun Dai was as striking as ever, with her crimson hair and snow-white skin, beautiful like a captivating siren.

Truthfully, Yun Dai hadn’t planned to come to school today. What happened yesterday was too mortifying—now the whole school was gossiping about her hopeless crush on Yu Xing.

It was utterly absurd. No matter how much she insisted she didn’t like Yu Xing, people would just think she was being stubborn and look at her with pity.

But then someone changed her mind—Gu Ya.

Yesterday afternoon, Gu Ya had sought her out, swearing to make Yu Xing pay and telling her to wait for the show.

So she came to school today. But seeing Yu Xing now, acting as if nothing had happened… *Had Gu Ya not made his move yet?*